Good for you, Tom Lehrer

[Dave W]

Satirist Tom Lehrer has put his songs into the public domain

[doombass]

That's a nice move. Otoh I don't think he ever got married nor has any children.

[westen44]

In regard to the Wernher von Braun song by Lehrer, my father used to work in a building close to von Braun.  But he never worked for the Nazis, only U.S. Army Missile Command.  Also, any time I get on this subject, I usually have to bring up the George Harrison quote.  In responding to critics dismissing 1980s albums by an ex-Beatle, Harrison said he would rather be called an ex-Beatle than an ex-Nazi.  I don't know how many more times I'm going to be able to use that George Harrison quote.  But so far I've got a lot of mileage out of it. 

[Pilgrim]

Lehrer's stuff today is as pertinent as it was when written. I'd love to hear his takes on various political figures.

[uwe]

An unspeakably venomous talent that had a way with words. Succinct and scathing. My favorite combo! 

[BTL]

I had never heard of Tom Lehrer before today, so thank you for that.

[Pilgrim]

Lehrer was a rather reluctant genius. I've loved his stuff for decades.

Given my academic career, this one is a favorite...

[westen44]

He said that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger in 1973 made political satire obsolete.  That's hilarious.   

[Dave W]

As a kid growing up in the 50s, I learned to recognize satire at an early age thanks to two sources: Listening to Bob & Ray on NBC Radio and listening to Tom Lehrer's original album, which the two older boys next door had.

For example, I could easily tell that "My Home Town" was an hilarious takedown of Bing Crosby's nauseating "Dear Hearts and Gentle People" (made even more nauseating because one of my cousins loved to sing it), and "The Old Dope Peddler" was satirizing "The Old Lamplighter."

Then there was "Be Prepared" (the Boy Scouts marching song). Wouldn't raise an eyebrow today, but it couldn't have been played over the air in the 50s. Even ten-year-old Dave laughed at lyrics like Don't solicit for your sister, that's not nice/unless you get a fair percentage of her price. 

[Pilgrim]

I didn't pick up the derivation of any of the tunes, but as a Boy Scout, I got a kick out of the lyrics in Be Prepared.

My favorite lyric of all is from Bright College Days:

Oh, soon we'll be out amid the cold world's strife...
Soon we'll be sliding down the razor blade of life....

A brilliantly uncomfortable metaphor if ever there was one, and which the live audience for the recording reacted to nicely.